In an effort to "make prostitution less of a public nuisance and safer for women," Zurich, Switzerland, is launching a pilot drive-in "sex box" program. Several dozen prostitues will man a row of wooden garages. Customers can drive-in, pick their "worker," and negotiate a fee. All "services" will be provided within the confines of the garage and/or vehicles. Walk-ins will not be permuted.

The publicly funded facilities -- open all night and located away from the city center -- include bathrooms, lockers, small cafe tables and a laundry and shower. Men won't have to worry about video surveillance cameras, but the sex workers -- who will need a permit and pay a small tax -- will be provided with a panic button and on-site social workers trained to look after them.

Prostitution has been legal in Switzerland for quite some time. This new program is an effort to regulate its visibility and safety.

One Swiss, skeptical of the practicality of such a program, called the sex boxes "an effort to control a thing that you can't really control."

APPLICATION

Sexual promiscuity, in fact all sin for that matter, leads us down a road that draws us deeper and deeper into compromise and rationalization. Having opened the door to "legal" prostitution, the Swiss must now find a way to deal with all the mess that goes along with it. They must now use taxpayer monies to make it less messy, less dangerous, all the while striving to make it less offputting and more mainstream. But all these efforts to control the fallout of prostitution fail to address the real damage done when a society is granted a license for such activity. Souls are still being tainted, women are still being exploited, and God is still weeping.

"When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21, NLT, cf 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).

“How many slaves do you have working for you?” That’s the question a new public awareness website,

www.slaveryfootprint.org, seeks to answer.

According to Andrew Martin of the NY TIMES, “The slavery footprint is a twist on the more commonly known carbon footprint, and the new site tries to point out areas of a consumer’s life where the organization believes slavery is most likely used to manufacture products.”

The site defines a slave as, “anyone who is forced to work without pay, being economically exploited and is unable to walk away.” And according to the US State Department, which partly funds the project, there are at least 27 million people who fit that description worldwide. “What we are trying to do is make it so it’s not just someone else’s business, it’s everyone’s business,” said Luis CdeBaca, ambassador at large for the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. “There’s a horror about it when they figure out what is going on.”

Visitors to the site will be walked through a series of questions regarding their lifestyle choices (purchasing habits, eating habits, travel habits, etc.). From the answers the site will calculate one’s personal “slavery footprint”—an average score being 55, representing 55 slaves you have working for you..

The site was created by the Fair Trade Fund, a California-based nonprofit group that uses media to promote advocacy on issues, particularly human slavery. Justin Dillon, 42, FTF’s CEO, said the site doesn’t seek to target specific companies, but rather aims to show users which consumer products are most likely manufactured in part or in whole through exploitative human labor.

APPLICATION

Every believer should be concerned about how their actions may be impacting others, especially the poor and the disadvantaged. The Scriptures tell us that though Jesus "was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). With Christ as our example, we must not allow ourselves to become richer on the backs of the poor.

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God" (Proverbs 14:31).

"A Child's Bill of Rights," Article 7, as presented in Richard Farson's book, BIRTHRIGHTS: A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, and reprinted for popular consumption in MS. MAGAZINE, March 1974:

"The Right to Sexual Freedom. Children have the right to conduct their sexual lives with no more restriction than adults. Sexual freedom for children must include the right to information about sex, the right to nonsexist education, and the right to all sexual activities that are legal among consenting adults."

Psychologist and author, Richard Farson, is president of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (WBSI), an independent, nonprofit organization he helped found in 1958, for the research, education and advanced study in human affairs. He has authored several books, including his 1974 book, "Birthrights: A Bill of Rights for Children.

APPLICATION

Children are born with a birthright--to grow up and be nurtured in the love and will of God. As the psalmist declared, "Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands" (Psalm 119:73). When a child realizes their divine birthright they are allowed to fulfill their potential both as a human being and as a child of God. The only thing the "Child's Bill of Rights" defends are the rights of adults to exploit the innocent. Something Jesus spoke sternly against.

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).